She is Legend: Hayley Wickenheiser, A Career Retrospective

Hayley Wickenheiser, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in hockey, announced in January that she is retiring from the game to pursue becoming a doctor. (Hockey Canada images)

Medals, accolades and records all line Hayley Wickenheiser’s hockey
résumé, but when it comes down to it, leaving a legacy for generations
to come is what matters most to the women’s hockey veteran.

With 23 years of playing for Team Canada under her skates,
Wickenheiser’s most important takeaway is the fact that a girl hitting
the ice with a stick doesn’t turn a single head anymore.

“I think progress and helping young girls into the game has something
that I always felt was a responsibility I had,” said Wickenheiser, who
recently announced she will be retiring from the sport and attending
graduate school this fall to pursue becoming a doctor.

Winning Canada’s HeartsWickenheiser has been integral, to say the least, in changing minds
and perceptions towards the female game, which in turn directly impacted
participation numbers. But it certainly didn’t happen overnight.
Wickenheiser says that the first time the changing culture really sunk
in for her was right after the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

It was an intense affair with Canada looking to avenge their loss in
the 1998 Olympic gold medal game in Nagano, the first time women’s
hockey was introduced as a medal sport. Add in losses in their last
eight matches against the U.S., and the pressure was on for Canada to
bring it home. And they did. Canada beat USA 3-2 in regulation time,
despite a controversial succession of eight power plays for the American
team.

Then came the now-famous TV interview Wickenheiser had with Don
Cherry after hearing the rumour that the U.S. team had walked across a
Canadian flag on the floor of their dressing room. Fired up from the win
she remarked, “now I want to know if they want us to sign it.” The win
and that interview ignited Canada’s passion for the team and a newfound
respect for its players.

“I knew we had reached a new level when we were driving across the
border having won that gold medal. As we crossed into Canada and the
first little town people recognized us. They were waving flags and
cheering. As we got into Calgary, people were lined on Crowchild Trail
honking. I knew at that moment we made it to a different stage. There
was more than maybe just 100 people watching us play from then on. At
that point the game was elevated,” said Wickenheiser.

And the Hatfield and McCoy’s battle between Canada and the U.S. was
forged. Making the most challenging moments also some of Wickenheiser’s
favourites, pushing her to be Canada’s all-time leader in games (275)
and points (379).

“Oh, I always loved playing against Angela Ruggiero. As an American
defenceman she was always matched up against me. She would trash talk
and get up in my grill trying to throw my game off. It is a bit awkward
now that we are both on the IOC athletes’ commission chair. I had to
step back and be like ‘OK we can be friends now that we aren’t playing
against each other,’” said Wickenheiser. “Still, there is a part of me
that always feels that a tiny bit of that hate has to be there at some
capacity. We played hard against each other for a long time, but it was
always a good challenge that made me better.”

Learning from the BestAs a wily veteran of the national team, Wickenheiser jokes she could
write a “scandalous” book with the stories she has of teammates and
hockey. She also admitted that sometimes even those that inspire, need a
boost.

“I was in an Olympic depression that didn’t seem to lift. After we
lost the gold medal at the ’98 Olympics, Wally Kozak gave me a quote. He
said a gold medal is a wonderful thing, but if you aren’t enough
without it, you will never be with it,” said Wickenheiser. “From the
time he gave it to me, I kept it in my wallet and would post it in my
stall in the dressing room at a every championship.”

Kozak, a scout for Hockey Canada, and Wickenheiser forged a
relationship as soon as she moved to Calgary at the age of 12. She first
met him when he was coaching at a hockey school. As Wickenheiser’s
parents were teachers like Kozak was at that time, they quickly became
like family.

When Kozak had a massive heart attack in 2008 while coaching a
Strathmore Rockies practice (who played in the now defunct Western
Women’s Hockey League), Wickenheiser was at his bedside.

“We kept a vigil at his hospital bed and when he finally woke up, I
was the first person he recognized because of our connection with
hockey. Hockey is his passion and we share that. He was my mentor and
helped me to the national team and while I was there. He knows the game
so well and gave me so much insight and perspective,” said Wickenheiser.

Salt Lake, Vancouver, Sochi — all will hold special meaning to the
retiring forward for different reasons, making it difficult to single
out one Olympics over another.

“Winning at home in Canada, at Vancouver, was amazing. I thought it
couldn’t get any better than that. Then there is Sochi. That, from a
hockey perspective, was our miracle on ice with that comeback,” said
Wickenheiser.

Adding to her Olympic medals are a Canadian Women’s Hockey League
Clarkson Cup title, a CIS (U Sport) championship, seven world
championship gold medals and playing men’s professional hockey in Sweden
and Finland. Spreading her influence even farther, with now little
girls in Europe looking up to her.

Passing the Torch

As the years rolled on, Wickenheiser stepped into the role of a
leader of different sorts. Not one that was always counted on to score
the big goal, but one that led with her words on the bench and work
ethic on and off the ice.

That moment when Wickenheiser received the quote from Kozak would
come full circle, whether she realized it or not, when Natalie Spooner
joined the national team.

“In 2011, when I first made the team, I got to play on Wick’s line,”
recalled Spooner. “I was pretty nervous and wasn’t playing my best. She
looked at me on the bench and said ‘don’t worry what other people think,
just play the game that you do and do what you do best.’ It really
struck a chord with me. First of all, I thought she would be mad that I
wasn’t playing well, but hearing her tell me just do the absolute best I
can and she would be OK with that — it meant everything. I still
remember that moment to this day and now when I go out on the ice I
don’t worry what others are thinking.”

A positive message, the same kind that helped Wickenheiser, has stayed with Spooner.

“I guess it is like a mantra now. I just go back to that line, do the
best I can and not worry about what people in the stands or anyone else
is thinking.”

Spooner tried to express just how much Wickenheiser will be missed on the ice and in the dressing room.

“She has done so much for hockey that I don’t think another women’s
player will have the same impact that she has had or will do as much as
she has accomplished.”

While Wickenheiser leaves the game behind, she will continue to be a
leader off the ice through the passion she helps ignite in the next
generation of potential national team players.

“I think I can speak for an entire generation of female hockey
players when I say that Wick’s impact on our careers was tremendous,”
said national teammate Halli Krzyzaniak, who currently plays with the
University of North Dakota. “Growing up, she was an idol for me. I used
to save newspaper clippings about her and the national team and hang
them on the wall beside my bed. She was a pioneer in women’s hockey and
she helped pave the way for female hockey players today to have these
amazing opportunities that weren’t there when she was growing up.”

Krzyzaniak said without Wickenheiser blazing the trail, female hockey
players wouldn’t have the opportunities or respect they have gained
today.

From idol, to teammate, and then assisting on one of the biggest moments of Krzyzaniak’s career so far.

“Wick was leading the rush and I jumped up as a defenceman. She hit
me with a picture perfect drop pass that I was able to one-time into
Sweden’s net,” said Krzyzaniak of her first goal in a Team Canada
jersey. “It was a pretty cool experience for me to have her be in on
that goal and made it even more special for me.”

Krzyzaniak remembers the first time she met her idol, right before the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

“I was just completely in awe of her. To be that close to someone you
look up to was surreal. It was so great for me as a player to be around
her and see how passionate and dedicated she was. She prepared the same
for an intrasquad game as she did for the finals of a world
championships.”

The Legacy Lives On

Wickenheiser’s legacy will go back even further as she continues to
grow female hockey through the Wickenheiser World Female Hockey Festival
(more commonly known as Wickfest).

Seven years ago, a dream Wickenheiser had to build a hockey
environment that focused not just on competition but also building
players came alive. Wickfest has since grown to almost 2,500 players
converging in Calgary over two weekends to play in a hockey tournament
and learn from other Olympians and professionals on training,
leadership, nutrition and more.

It all started with a conversation Wickenheiser had with former
Canadian alpine ski racer and Olympian ‘Jungle’ Jim Hunter. A fellow
Shaunavon, Sask. native, Hunter, his brothers, and Wickenheiser often
trained together over the summer. That evolved into an epic three-day
bike ride they would meet up to tackle every year.

“We had a conversation about how to leave a legacy because you know
you can’t play and compete forever. We were sitting around the campfire
after a day’s riding and started talking about how to build a legacy
that would impact the game that meant so much to me. Wickfest was
created over that campfire,” said Wickenheiser.

Over 23 years, the impact Wickenheiser has made is immeasurable.
Always the competitor, a leader, an inspiration and there is still
another description for her — humble.

“I have to say thanks to so many great coaches and people that have
helped me along the way to get to a platform where I could give back.
Really all the teammates I had, the fans and everyone who believed and
cheered for us, without them nobody would have cared what I have done
and I wouldn’t be here talking to you.”

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